Patriots: The magic is back

Tuesday

It took the Patriots' worst performance of the year to drive home two important points about the 2010 team.

It took the Patriots' worst performance of the year to drive home two important points about the 2010 team.

First is that this team bears little relation to the high-flying, intimidating team we saw in 2007 and in parts of 2008 and '09. Second is that they've recaptured the magic that was their original hallmark under Bill Belichick — the ability to somehow be more than the sum of their parts.

Sunday's 23-20 win over San Diego could have been lifted right out of the Patriots' improbable 2001 season. That particular team didn't pass the ball particularly well or run it particularly well. They weren't stingy against the run, and gave up plenty of yards through the air.

But they did so many small things well that despite being outgained for the season, despite having a plodding, starless offense, despite allowing first down after first down on defense, despite being generally outplayed in all three of their playoff games, they won the Super Bowl.

Can this team do the same? Yes. Why? Because, for lack of a better term, that old-time Patriots magic is back.

In their heyday, opponents left the field time after time following games with the Patriots feeling and/or saying that they were the better team.

Surely San Diego had to be feeling the same way. They held the Patriots to 3.1 yards a play, which is something you see maybe once in 100 games. At home? With an explosive offense on your side? You have to win that game, and against most teams you do.

Maybe it was San Diego's ineptitude more than New England's effort that made the difference, but what does it matter?

There's something to said about having the football gods on your side — in fact, you could argue that good luck and timely execution is what makes every year's champion. The Saints were no better than the Vikings or the Colts last year, but huge plays in the NFC title game and Super Bowl were enough to make them a champion.

On the other end, look at San Diego — a team that is doing everything well except the little things, and as a result is sitting at 2-5.

During the Brady-to-Moss heyday, I never bought into the voices that said that the New England teams that were built around balance and not flash were superior to the Moss teams. "They haven't won anything since 2004" sounds great, but it was a vast oversimplification.

They had one of the 10 best teams of all time in 2007 and came a helmet away from a fourth Super Bowl that year. If you offered Belichick the option to have his 2007 offense back, he'd take it in a heartbeat.

But there's something more satisfying and more likeable about this Patriots team, and I think Belichick has returned to basics more from necessity than from ingenuity. After watching Moss for a couple of weeks in Minnesota, it's pretty clear that he's as much hindrance as help, and the earlier a new offensive identity was forged, the better. New England's offense isn't going to be great this year, but it's going to be good enough.

The defense is a weekly wonderland of emerging players and opportune plays. A week after Brandon Deaderick came out of nowhere to hold his own vs. Baltimore, linebacker Dane Fletcher and safety Sergio Brown made major contributions against San Diego.

The Patriots' run defense is returning to its normal form, and while the secondary isn't there yet, it did a good job against the unflappable Philip Rivers on Sunday (85.1 passer rating).

This team isn't perfect, but it's doing a lot of things right and letting the opposition do things wrong.

It's an adjustment, seeing this old-school revival, and there's a section of Patriots Nation that isn't enjoying the ride much. Patriots fans have been riding at the front of the bus for so long that I think they've forgotten what it's like to win ugly, to be younger and maybe not as good as their opponent.

Maybe Belichick had forgotten, too, and that's why we're seeing him smiling after games, huddling up on the sideline and generally looking re-energized.

This team always thrived on trying to prove everyone wrong, and they're doing it again. Fun stuff.

Jonathan Comey is sports editor of The Standard-Times. E-mail him at jcomey@s-t.com.

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